State lawmakers demand immediate mitigation for game farm contamination in letter to WDFW director

Chronicle staff report

CENTRALIA. Wash. – State Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and Reps. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, and Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, called for the immediate relocation of pheasants off the Bob Oke Game Farm in Centralia to help eliminate the risk of further nitrate contamination in nearby water supplies in a joint letter to Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind.

The letter, dated March 28, is in response to the March 24 town hall in Centralia where data was presented that showed that the highest levels of nitrate contaminants stem from the game farm. The WDFW and game farm staff said during the meeting that the number of birds raised at the facility would be reduced by 40%, and 100% of adult birds located over the most productive part of the aquifer would also be reduced.

But the lawmakers say more action is needed to mitigate the dangerously high nitrates impacting about 70 homes in the urban growth area outside Centralia limits.

“Testing clearly indicates that the highest levels of contaminants originate directly from the game farm. Given these results, the most prudent course of action would be to immediately relocate the birds off the property entirely and take all possible steps to mitigate and ultimately eliminate the risk of further nitrate contamination from the site,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The Bob Oke Game Farm, operated by the WDFW, breeds and raises between 40,000 and 45,000 pheasants each year and is almost completely funded by WDFW pheasant hunting license fees. Mott McDonald senior hydrogeologist Glenn Mutti-Driscoll said March 24 that the estimated travel time for the groundwater nitrate improvements north of the high school would be seven to 19 years based on groundwater flow and precipitation, among other factors.

The lawmakers, as well as Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston, were unimpressed with the WDFW’s lack of urgency regarding the situation and said the community cannot wait for clean water.

“We appreciate that the WDFW has recently become involved in identifying the source of nitrates in the well water of community members downstream of the game farm. We also recognize that your department is exploring mitigation measures to address the water contamination and has expressed the intention to conduct further tests before drawing conclusions,” the lawmakers wrote.

“However, the urgency of this situation does not allow for additional delays while the aquifer supplying Centralia’s drinking water faces the risk of further contamination.

“While we support hunting and the opportunities it provides for our citizens to learn this skill, it must not take priority over the health of our community and the safety of our drinking water.”

Abbarno and Orcutt attended the March 24 town hall and spoke in favor of a land swap of the game farm, an idea that the WDFW has been ambivalent about, Abbarno said.

“This issue has been under discussion for years, yet action from WDFW remained limited until nitrate levels reached a point harmful to the community’s health,” the lawmakers wrote. “With contamination now at such an extreme level, we cannot afford to wait another year or two for more testing and deliberation.”